For those of you that lived a life of sin and became saved,
did you find that it was hard to let go of the things that you once loved or
once did? Did becoming saved make you feel nervous and scared? Did you feel
like if you stopped doing the things you once did that you would have nothing
you could do for fun? Did you feel like being saved meant that you would have
to be locked in the house reading the bible and fun just isn’t allowed?
Well, part of that is not understanding and the other part
is the wrong perception.
How many of you that are not saved want to be saved but you
haven’t gotten saved yet because you still want to party and go clubbing? How many of you that are saved want to live a
godly life but some of the stuff you have gotten yourself attached to, you
don’t want to stop. For example, you still want to listen to your Beyonce CDs.
Y’all (yes, I’m country), it’s time to let go.
Understanding
There is a line between godly and worldly. There is a
difference between the two. As saved Christians, we are to be the light of the
world. People should just see us and know that there is something different,
something holy, something godly. They should see Christ when they look at us.
If you truly love Christ, especially for what He did for you, you would choose
those godly things over the worldly without a problem. It’s disappointing
sometimes, like when I found out about what’s really behind the music we listen
to or eating certain things that’s not okay in the dietary laws. I was like,
“aww man!” because some of the things included in that stuff were some of my
favorite things. But the choice came easy to me by asking myself this question:
live ungodly so I can feel good now or live godly so I can feel good for
eternity? In other words, this foolishness or my soul? The decision is easy
then. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people perish for a lack of knowledge because they
have rejected knowledge…” When I learn something that I didn’t know before and
it is to help me be closer to God and live a more godly life, I listen and make
those adjustments. I don’t want to perish because I didn’t want to listen or
didn’t want people to tell me anything or receive what people were telling me
because I want to stay in my comfort zone. I rather be uncomfortable now and
comfortable for eternity instead of comfortable now and extremely uncomfortable
for eternity! As Christians, we should want to do right. We should want to be
righteous. We should want to be holy, not trying to look and sound like the
world. That’s just bringing glory to ourselves. God doesn’t want your worldly
stuff.
How would you like it if someone you loved gave you a gift
just because, and it was specially packed for you with your name on it and when
you opened it, there was rotting garbage inside? Seriously, how would feel?
This is what we do to God when we offer Him up this worldly stuff. We are just
humans, so imagine how He feels about you every time you say, “Turn up for
Jesus!” WHAT?!?!
Understand why certain things are done the way they are.
Understand what stuff REALLY mean! Especially before you offer it to God.
Perception
Okay, so we think being saved means being bored. Really? My
husband and I have so much fun all the time. And we don’t have to go to the
clubs, get drunk, or sleep around to have fun! There’s movies, there’s
restaurants, there’s bowling allies, there’s fun parks, there’s museums,
there’s miniature golf, and for my shoppers, there’s malls! This is just to
name a few! Grab a GOOD friend and take a trip! Watch your favorite movie, have
a movie night with friends. If you have kids, whoop their tails in some
Monopoly or The Game of Life! (LOL) Now, your idea of fun may be different from
my idea of fun, but if you really want to be saved and live a godly life then
you need to look into what fits into that.
Also, I get so much joy from reading the bible. What always
worked for me was whenever I was dealing with something, I would refer to the
bible. I would find what God said about it and make my choices based on The
Word. I wanted to live right, so I needed to know what “right” was. And the
bible is the manual for a godly life. For example, as a teenager, I was always so
angry at certain people. They would make me soooo mad and just the thought of
them made me mad. I got tired of being so angry and wanted to know how to deal
with it, so I opened my bible. I found James 1:19-20 “Know this my beloved
brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;
for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God”, and
Ecclesiastes 7:9, “Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger
lodges in the bosom of fools” and I stopped being angry right there! It’s all
about the choices we make.
Once I learned directly from The Word what was good and was
not, I begin to learn more on how others actually dealt with things by starting
from the beginning. I began reading the bible from Genesis chapter 1. I am
still in the process of that and it is amazing how reading through Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers how the people of Israel also could not let go
of Egypt. They cried out to God of Abraham, of Isaac, and Jacob to be free from Egypt, but once they
were free, they could let go of the practices of Egypt. Remember the golden
calf? They had been set free from Egypt, walked across the Red Sea on dry land
and still wanted to worship other gods like in Egypt (Exodus 32). But even when
they came up to the Red Sea, the people of Israel was ready to go back to Egypt
that fast (Exodus 14: 12). They cried again in the wilderness about being
hungry (Exodus 16: 2-3) and how they had food in Egypt. In Exodus 17:3, they
cried about being taken from Egypt to die of thirst. Moses had gotten fed up by
the time he came back with the tablets that had the Ten Commandments on them
and he saw the people had built that golden calf and was worshipping it. He
threw the tablets down, breaking them because he was so upset with them. God
was angry with the people of Israel so much, He was going to wipe them out
several times, but because of Moses praying and interceding on their behalf, he
spared them. However, God did wipe out a generation of Israel instead of all of
them.
But do you realize the wrong perception here? You know the
saying the grass is always greener on the other side? Do you know what that
means? It means that no matter where you are in your life, you are the type of
person that sees everything else as better. You leave one thing because the
grass looks greener on the other side, but once you get to the other side, the
side you left now looks greener and you want to go back! The people of Israel
saw freedom from Egypt as the greener grass, but when they were free and had to
deal with this new stuff, Egypt looked greener. No matter what side, the other
side always looks greener. But my advice is, stop looking at the other side!!!
The children of Israel were too busy comparing their life in
Egypt with their life of freedom that they didn’t even see what God was doing
for them! He got them out of Egypt (which is what they wanted), He got them
across the Red Sea by parting the waters until they ALL crossed, He fed them
from nothing, He quenched their thirst from a rock! He protected them in the
wilderness, He protected them in battles. He did all of that just for them! And
they couldn’t see it because they were too busy looking at what they thought
was greener grass.
We do the same thing! We get saved and look at the sinners
and think they are having so much more fun and don’t even realize the God is
protecting YOU from that shooting that’s going to happen at that club that you
think you want to go to so bad. Let it go! You think you’re missing out on the
latest music, but God is protecting you from the sin that the music makes you
want to commit. Let it go!
A lot of times, just like the children of Israel, we are
just afraid of what’s to come. Salvation may be unfamiliar territory to you and
you are scared. This is where your faith has to kick in. You have to believe
that God is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do and
just go for it. If you feel a desire to pull out your bible and read, do it. If
you feel a need to distance yourself from certain people in order to work on
your righteousness, do it. Don’t worry. God’s got you! And being saved doesn’t mean
everything will be smiles and sunshine. We are taught that becoming saved means
that everything will now be alright. Yes, it is, but things are going to be
hard. But it can go smoothly if you just let go and let God handle it. Let go
of the anger. Let go of the hurt. Let go of the sin. Let go of the world.
I am reminded of a scene in “Finding Nemo” (yes, I like
cartoons!) where Marlin doesn’t want to let go of the whale’s tongue out of
fear because he’s unsure of the outcome. Dori convinces him to let go. This is
how we are sometimes. We rather stay in the whale’s mouth crying to get out but
then won’t let go of the whale TO get out!
Why are we confessing God, but living a worldly life? The
world didn’t die and wouldn’t die for your sins, so why would you choose it
over Jesus?
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for
all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to
live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” Titus 2:
11-23
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not
be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable
and perfect.” Romans 12: 1-2
May God Bless You,
Amy M.
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